Futurama: Among the Moons of Saturn
by saturn95
Summary: Fry is in a state of depression. Xmas has forever been ruined for him by Robot Santa, and Leela still won't give him a chance to form a loving relationship. So when Farnsworth treats his crew to an Xmas Vacation in the vicinity of Saturn to escape the evil robot's wrath, everyone cheers in delight. So what could possibly go wrong? The crew will be in for some interesting surprises!
1. Fry's Dilemma

Fry's Dilemma

December 20th, 3004

* * *

It was that time of year again. The people of New New York were lighting up the buildings with assorted strings of colorful lights, while barricading themselves from the once-a-year threat that is Robot Santa. Every year, it was the same. The maniac robot, whose evil operations are the result of faulty judgment, carries out a reign of destruction that costs the people of Earth an astronomical amount of money, money which could have been used for some other useful purpose. For one person though, the holiday of Xmas (once called Christmas) was once remembered as a day of joy and comfort, as well as a time to just sit around and enjoy the presence of his own family members. But that was over a thousand years ago. Most of his family had since become ancient and forgotten history.

Phillip J. Fry stood near one of the windows of his apartment and watched as snow started to fall from the cold gray sky. Hover cars were seen speeding through the air as the evening rush hour started to kick in and people everywhere were rushing to finish their holiday shopping. In the five years he has spent in the thirty-first century, Fry always found himself referring back to _The Jetsons_ every time he saw the complicated skyline of the city. It was a far cry from the life he unwittingly left behind, yet he enjoyed every single moment of it, especially with the company of his coworkers at Planet Express. He had been to places which others from his time would only dream of travelling to and places that would defy their imagination. However, ever since the time he and Leela and Bender attempted to undermine Robot Santa and his evil operations at Neptune, Xmas had become a day of remorse. It only reminded him of all the things that made him weak and sad. Of the many things that depressed Fry, Xmas made him think of Leela and all of the horrible things that happened in her life. But what troubled him the most were the numerous attempts he made to start a meaningful relationship with the beautiful one-eyed woman. Even though Fry presented himself as a joyful and carefree guy in front of everyone else, he knew that deep down inside, he was all alone and that Leela was all alone too. Yet, in spite of these circumstances, Fry still could not seem to get through to her, even after all of the danger that they have encountered across the universe and all of the trouble they went in saving each other's lives. Come to think of it, it had been a while since the professor sent them on a dangerous deliver session. All he wanted to do was make Leela happy. In doing so, Fry knew that it would make himself happy as well.

Still, even though Fry's wishes were strong and meaningful, there did not seem to be any possibility that any of them would come true. As far as he was concerned, his attempts to form a relationship with Leela were all lost causes. He almost wished that his ex-girlfriend from 1999 would give him another chance. But Fry hated Michelle, especially since he found out about her affair with another guy that began right after she left him during the minutes before the coming of the year 2000 (though it was in the year 3000 when he discovered this secret). Although he had gotten lucky a few times in the past five years, Leela was the only woman that Fry had and ever would have deep feelings for.

After shedding a couple of tears, Fry went over to his mini fridge and grabbed a beer to drown his sorrows. Never before had he felt so appreciated, yet out of place at the same time. A few minutes passed before he finally decided to fall asleep and gear himself for another day at Planet Express. Bender would be back anytime to brag about his double date with two fembots and he was certainly not in any mood to listen to any of it, especially after what happened last time when the alcohol-guzzling robot burned him with his cigar multiple times in his left arm. But then again, it was normal for Bender to commit acts of harm toward those who were closest to him.

It was just when Fry was just climbing into bed when Bender suddenly walked in the door with a cigar in his mouth. The robot was quick to notice Fry slumping on the bed and immediately went over to greet him. Fry glanced up from his slouching position and gave a slight smile, then went back to slouching.

"I don't know if you're in the mood, but I'm happy to say that everything went fantastic tonight!" Bender said in his jovial tone. "You know what I mean?"

"I'm not in the mood right now." Fry replied. "Just leave me alone."

"What's the matter, Fry?" Bender asked. "Are you hungry or something."

"No, Bender." Fry said. "I'm just feeling a little sad right now. That's all."

"It's about Leela isn't it?" Bender asked. "I know how you feel."

"No you don't. You're a robot!" Fry yelled.

"Yeah, a robot with artificial intelligence and emotions!" Bender replied. "Listen, Fry. You've been acting like this for two and half weeks. Is there something else that's bothering you?"

"Well…yeah." Fry said.

"Well…what is it?" Bender asked. Fry sighed.

"It's about Xmas. I really wish that there was something we could do to make the holidays the way I remember them. But every pine tree on Earth is gone and Santa is a robot that judges everyone naughty and tries to blow everyone's heads off! I just hate hiding out on the holidays and I wish there was a place where Robot Santa doesn't try killing anyone. But the worst part is that there's nothing we can do to change that."

"Now here's the difference between you and me." Bender said as he blew the smoke from his cigar into Fry's face. "I actually envy Robot Santa, because not only does he gets to kill as many humans as he wants, he also gets away with doing everything else. Whenever I try doing that stuff, I always end getting caught by the cops! If you ask me, I think that's discrimination!"

Fry laughed at Bender's reply, after which the robot slapped him across the face and yelled "Shut up, meat bag!" It was one of his signature come-backs, so Fry did take any offense to it.

"I know what will make both of us feel better." Bender said as he opened his front compartment. He took out two bottles of beer and handed one of them to Fry, but he declined the offer.

"Thanks, but I just had one before you came in through the door." Fry said. "Besides, it's getting late and the professor wants us to help with the Xmas decorations…ugh…"

"Come on, Fry. One drink isn't going to kill you!" Bender replied. "Unless of course you already have alcohol poisoning…"

"If I had that, I probably wouldn't be in this room." Fry said.

"Well, then take a drink." Bender said. "I got the real stuff this time!"

Reluctantly, Fry finally gave in and took the alcoholic beverage from Bender and they both belched and binged well into the night before Fry finally passed out on the floor.

* * *

**Hey everyone! This is my first Futurama story and I am glad that I thought of doing a story like this. In case you're wondering, this story takes place after the end of the fourth season when the show went off the air, hence the time setting I put in place. It was a spur of the moment idea that came to my head just recently, so I'm not sure how long this story will last, or whether I'll be finishing it or not. However, I really hope that you enjoyed this first chapter and I look forward to your reviews! :)**

**saturn95**


	2. The Announcement

The Announcement

December 21st, 3004

* * *

It was still early in the morning and the sun had not peeked above the horizon yet. Leela was walking along the snow-covered street, her purple hair occasionally getting into her face as the cold wind blew through the city. Ever since the weather cooled down, her morning walks had become more of a challenge. Luckily, Leela dressed warmly for the occasion, sporting a stylish winter jacket as well as a soft hand-made scarf. Looking around at the beautiful Xmas decorations on the buildings, Leela could not help but revert back to her thoughts on Fry. He had been acting very strange for the past few weeks and was had been wondering whether he was feeling alright. She suspected that it may have had something to do with his various attempts to take her out on a nice date. Leela sighed. She almost felt guilty for not giving him a real chance to know her better and she was beginning to regret it too.

"Poor Fry." she said to himself. "He hasn't been the same person since the last time we carried out a delivery operation. If only I knew what was really bothering him. Is it me?"

Leela pondered her thoughts for a few moments and thought of an idea.

"Maybe I should get Fry an expensive Xmas present this year." she said. "But what kinds of things, other than typical guy things, does he like? There's still so much that I have yet to know about him, even after the five years we've known each other. My mother was right. Thinking of things to get for a guy is a real pain! I'm sure I'll think of something though. Fry has never been very picky about gifts."

Just as Leela stepped under a bright lamppost, she heard the sound of metallic footsteps coming toward her. Before she could find the source of the sounds, she was knocked into the snow by an unknown being. She looked up and saw that it was Bender. There was a look of panic in his metallic face.

"Bender! What the hell are you doing?!" Leela yelled.

"I was just about to ask you the same." he replied.

"Great! Now I'm covered in snow! Next time, watch where you're going! Now I have to redo my hair! What the big rush anyway?"

"I was on my way to get help." Bender said.

"Why? What's the emergency?"

"It's Fry."

At that moment, Leela's heart skipped a beat and her stomach fell.

"I tried to stop him, but he just kept on drinking." Bender continued. "I tried waking him up, but he just kept on lying on the floor and didn't make a single movement."

"When did he pass out?!" Leela asked.

"I don't know, sometime in the last six hours." Bender replied.

* * *

Bender dragged Leela back to the apartment where Fry was found lying on the sofa with an empty beer can in his hand. He looked miserable, but the motion in his chest suggested that he was still alive. Leela braced herself for the worst as she prepared to wake Fry from his slumber. After a few simple slaps across his face, Leela watched as Fry slowly opened his blood-shot eyes. Leela breathed a sigh of relief.

"Uh…Leela?" What are you doing here?" Fry said. His breath was heavily laced with the scent of alcohol.

"Oh, thank goodness you're okay!" Leela said. "You had me worried sick!"

"What happened?" Fry asked in a weak tone. "Ugh…my head is killing me."

"You drank yourself asleep again, Fry." Bender said.

"It's the second time this week you've binged on alcohol." Leela said. "You've been acting very strange the past few weeks too. Is there something on your mind? Surely there has to be something that's bothering you."

"There's nothing bothering me, Leela." Fry said. "I'm just a little homesick for my own time period, that's all."

"That's such a lie!" Bender yelled. "Last night, you told me you wished Xmas wasn't all about hiding from Robot Santa and all that junk! Also, you said that you wished Leela would take your hand in marriage!"

"I never said that!" Fry cried. "At least I don't remember saying anything like that…"

Leela put her hand on Fry's shoulder as he started to silently sob.

"Listen, Fry. It's obvious that you're suffering from depression." Leela said. "Maybe if you see a therapist or get a prescription of antidepressants, you can cure it."

"I'm not depressed!" Fry shouted.

"Then what's your problem?" Leela asked. Fry remained silent for a few moments as he tried thinking of another reason for his recent alcohol addiction, but his mind went blank. They were right. He was depressed.

"Come on, Fry. Let's get yourself dressed and ready for the day." Leela said. "There's a small diner down the street. Maybe we can get some breakfast there and fill that stomach of yours. You look like you could use something to eat."

"I guess that sounds fair." Fry said, though obviously still in a depressed mood.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Let's get going!" Bender said.

* * *

Just as the sun was starting to shine over New New York, the clouds returned and started dumping more snow on the already snow-packed city. Fry, Leela, and Bender had since eaten breakfast and were now sitting inside the main meeting hub area inside Planet Express Headquarters at the large round table with Amy Wong and Hermes Conrad. Fry starred up at the giant blank monitor screen and sighed. He felt just as bad now as he did when he woke up to his persisting hangover. His head was throbbing with pain and he felt sick to his stomach.

"Is your head still hurting?" Leela asked.

"Yeah. It hurts like a mother giving birth." Fry said.

"Oh, don't be so overly dramatic." Leela said. "Here, have some aspirin. I always carry a spare bottle with me."

"Thanks, Leela." Fry said, giving a slight smile. Leela returned the favor.

"So, what seems to be the trouble, Fry?" Hermes asked in his strong Jamaican accent. "Your eyes don't look so good, mon."

"You weren't binge drinking again, were you?" Amy asked.

"Actually, I was." Fry said. "The truth is, I haven't been feeling like myself lately. I think I have depression."

"It seems reasonable. I mean, you haven't been acting yourself for the past two and a half weeks." Hermes said. "It even says so here on your weekly psychological screenings."

"Haven't you tried taking up a hobby or something?" Amy asked. "Usually when I get depressed, I find something that I like to do and it keeps me busy. It takes my mind off of what's bothering me."

"Thanks, Amy. But I don't think it would get me that far." Fry replied. "I'm just not good at doing anything."

"Who says you have to be good at something to do it?" Amy asked.

"Usually when I'm depressed, I like to practice my limbo skills." Hermes said. "Maybe you should try to limbo in your spare time to take your mind off of your depressing thoughts, Fry. It works for me every time."

"Well, not everyone is good at doing the limbo, Hermes." Amy said.

"What happened to not having to be good at something to do that something, hmm?" Hermes said, as if to start an argument. Amy just ignored his remark and refocused her attention on Fry.

"I appreciate you help, guys. But I think I'm just going to wait it out and see how I feel in the coming days." Fry said. "Who knows, maybe I'll feel better then."

"I doubt it." Bender said, making a cloud of smoke with his cigar. "Usually when a meat bag like yourself gets depressed for a long period of time, two weeks at the least, they usually don't get better."

"Bender, stop it!" Leela yelled. "You're only making the situation worse!"

"That's my job, Leela. You should know that by now." Bender replied.

Leela scowled at the robot, just as Professor Hubert Farnsworth walked through the main door leading into the conference room. The wrinkled smile on his face suggested that the crew would be making another delivery, the first one in over three weeks. Fry could only brace himself for the worst.

"Good news, everyone!" said Professor Farnsworth as he approached the table. "You will be delivering a package to Omicron Persei 8 containing…oh, wait. I'm sorry! That's next week's good news! My mistake."

"What's this week's good news?" Fry asked.

"Well, let me think for a moment…" Farnsworth replied. "Oh, right! Now I remember! As you all know, it's that time of year again. Robot Santa is coming to try and rip the head off of every human being on Earth he sees. After the last few years, there is no question that he will certainly try and rip our heads off, since were at the top of Santa's naughty list."

"So what's the point?" Bender said.

"My point is that because Santa is bent on trying to rid every member of Planet Express, I have decided to cancel Xmas decorations this year."

"What?!" Amy said. "But professor…"

"Now hold on, Amy! I haven't finished yet." Farnsworth said. "What I have done to make up for this loss is something that I think all of you will appreciate."

"And what exactly would that be?" Leela asked.

"I'll show you." Farnsworth replied, dimming the lights in the room with the push of a button on his remote. He then pressed another button, which triggered the appearance of a large three-dimensional holographic representation of the Solar System.

"Now, since Robot Santa will be making his way towards Earth in just a few days, I figured that the only way we could survive this upcoming Xmas was if I gave all of you a five-day, non-expense Xmas vacation!"

Fry choked when he heard the news. _For once, I can actually say this _is _good news!_ he thought. This was sure to get his mind away from all of the depressing thoughts. There were positive reactions throughout the room.

"A vacation?!" Amy said in an excited tone of voice. "That's great, professor!"

"Might I ask where you plan on sending us?" Hermes asked.

"Good question, Hermes." Farnsworth replied. "It turns out that I have already arranged a destination for you. For monetary purposes, I was unable to make any reservations in a different star system. However, even though your destination is not too far from home, it's also not at all close to Santa's path of destruction."

Farnsworth pressed another button on his remote, causing the orbits of the planets in the holograph to flicker, as if it were shuffling through them. Finally, the shuffling started to slow down until it landed on the sixth orbit from the sun. Then, a work flashed on the screen: SATURN.

"You're going to be staying in an extravagant hotel perched in orbit around Saturn, the infamous ringed planet." Farnsworth said. "It's one of the few remaining natural beauties in our system that has remained unscathed by humans, for obvious reasons of course."

"Wow." Leela said. "I've always wanted to go to Saturn, but I never had any reason or opportunity to ever go there."

"How come you never sent us there during the time we've been working for you?" Bender asked. "Is there a secret you've been keeping from us?"

"Oh, heavens no!" Farnsworth replied. "I've been saving for something like this for a long time. Besides, I wanted to have enough money to make sure I would be able to go too! I'm too young to die in the hands of a demented holiday robot!"

"Well, last time I checked, you were over one-hundred, sixty years old." Hermes said.

"Actually, Hermes, you are both right and wrong." Farnsworth replied. "If you think about it I would be barely a year old on Neptune, since its year is almost one-hundred, sixty-five times the length of one of our years."

"And according to my calculations," Hermes began, "in terms of the length of one Saturn year, which is around thirty times the length of Earth's and relevant to our current discussion, you would be over five years old."

"Whoopee!" Farnsworth shouted. "I feel young again!"

"Hey, Hermes. How old would I be?" Fry asked.

"You don't want to know." Hermes replied.

"Hey, where's Zoidberg?" Leela asked.

Just then, the lobster-alien 'physician' known as Dr. Zoidberg entered from the main door and into the conference room. Everyone else suddenly became quiet as to look unsuspicious.

"So, what's this I hear about an Xmas vacation?" Zoidberg asked. "Was I invited?"

"No!" Farnsworth said. "However, since there is the overwhelming possibility that you overheard the entire conversation, I guess I'll have no choice but to bring you along as well…"

"Hurray!" Zoidberg said. Everyone else around the conference table moaned in disbelief.

"Well, I'm ready to leave this lousy planet whenever you guys are." Bender said, taking out another cigar.

"We'll leave as soon as it starts getting dark." Farnsworth said. "Dress warm and bring plenty of warm clothes with you. I will see all of you this evening before we launch. Oh, and in case you're wondering, since there wasn't enough money in our fund to rent a fancier spaceship, we'll be taking the Planet Express ship as our source of transportation."

"Sounds good professor." Fry said. _I'm feeling better already_.

Everyone left the conference room after the meeting was over and headed back to their apartments to pack their belongings. From that point on, Fry seemed to feel a little better than he did before. Maybe the only thing he needed, it seemed, was another space adventure. Still, there was something that kept bothering Fry, but he was unable to put his finger on it at the moment. Adventure was calling his name.

* * *

**After receiving the announcement of a vacation to Saturn, Fry seems to feel more at ease with his sad feelings. However, there's something else that seems to be interfering with his renewed enthusiasm. What could that thing be? Stay tuned as the crew of Planet Express starts their journey to the infamous ringed planet. See you in the next update :)**

**saturn95**


	3. Eighty Minutes to Saturn

Eighty Minutes to Saturn

…Later that Evening…

* * *

The sun had already set over New New York as the early twilight started to take root. Inside the large space garage of Planet Express Headquarters, final preparations were being made as everyone started settling into the large green spaceship. As Leela was checking the calibrations and control systems, everyone else was loading all of their personal belongings into the ship's trusty compartment. Fry's depressing thoughts were starting to gradually return, though it was not as bad as it was back at his apartment. He was glad that he would be going on another trip into space, but there were a few things that were still on his mind. Most of these thoughts were about the tragedies that almost occurred last year, especially the time when Leela almost died from a fatal bee sting. However, his deep feelings for the lovely one-eyed woman were the main thoughts circulating through Fry's mind. He wanted to tell Leela how he felt, but he was afraid that he would get rejected again. Nonetheless, Fry tried his best to rid himself of these thoughts. He did not want them to ruin his already dampened mood. He was sitting in one of the main seats inside the control deck when Leela suddenly surprised him and made him jump.

"Hey, you." Leela said. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah." Fry replied. "I think I'm feeling alright."

Leela looked at him with a knowing expression that Fry was not completely telling the truth. Fry saw Leela's expression and felt his own expression change to reveal his true feelings. Leela knelt down beside him.

"There's still something on your mind isn't there?" Leela said. "What's making you so sad, Fry? You know you can tell me anything that's bothering you."

"If I told you, you'd freak out on me." Fry replied.

"Come on, Fry. It can't be that bad." Leela said.

"Maybe later." Fry said. "Besides, I'm not sure if it's the best time for me to tell you."

"Well, I can't make you feel better unless you tell what the problem is." Leela said.

Just then, Farnsworth and the rest of the crew, including Bender and Zoidberg, entered the ship and approached Fry and Leela.

"Are we ready to go yet, Leela?" Farnsworth asked.

"I believe so." Leela replied, checking all of the gauges on the front dash. "Yep, all systems are running at full levels. Everyone find a seat and strap yourselves in."

"How long will it take to get to Saturn?" Amy asked.

"At light speed, it should take us a little over an hour." Farnsworth said. "Even after we arrive, we still have to locate the orbiting hotel, which to my understanding has an orbit that's located between the moons Enceladus and Tethys."

"That shouldn't be too hard to locate." Leela replied.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Hermes asked. "Let's get this vacation going! As a bureaucrat, I am actually happy that I don't have to sit around and make people angry for five days."

"You and me both." Bender said.

"I'm not sure if that's the case for you, Bender." Hermes said.

"Okay, now you're making me angry." the robot replied.

"Come on you two. This is supposed to be a fun trip!" Zoidberg said as he approached the two opponents.

"Says the mutant that wasn't originally invited!" Hermes snapped.

"Alright, quit your yapping!" Farnsworth interrupted. "We're about to take off!"

* * *

The Planet Express ship slowly lifted itself away from the launch pad and started soaring over the brightly illuminated city. Slowly, but surely, the ship started to gain speed and started to soar higher and higher into the atmosphere until it was no longer surrounded by air. The Planet Express crew was once again in outer space. Looking through the window, Fry looked back on the night side of Earth and the bright lights of the cities which perfectly outlined each of the continents. He remembered seeing them for the first time shortly after he was reawakened almost five years ago right after Farnsworth took him in along with Leela and Bender as they escaped the authorities for removing their career chips. But even after all the times he went to space, Fry still found the beauty of his home planet nostalgic. He watched as the eastern limb of the planet turn orange as the sun started coming into view. A blue crescent soon developed as the ship's angle relative to Earth continued to change, allowing Fry to see the blue of the oceans, the tans and green colorings of the illuminated continents, as well as the swirling white clouds in the atmosphere.

_I can't believe it's already been five years since I met Leela_. Fry thought to himself as the ship continued gaining speed. _Even after all of the trouble we've been through, she still won't give me a chance at love_. _What is it about me she finds unappealing? I never understood why she always rejected my offers. Does she think I'm stupid?_

Then, everything started moving very quickly as the ship started travelling at light speed. After just a few seconds, the view of Earth was completely gone, for the planet had been reduced to a small blue dot against the black background of space. Even the sun was starting to shrink as the ship ventured farther into the Solar System. It would only be another hour or so before the Planet Express ship started closing in on its destination. Just as Fry got up to use the restroom, Bender started walking towards him.

"Hey, Fry. You wanna play some rounds of poker while we're waiting out this journey?" Bender asked.

"I don't know, Bender." Fry said. "I'm not sure if I'm in the mood right now."

"Oh, come on Fry!" Bender insisted, waving the deck of cards in Fry's face with his extended arm. "You know you want to."

"Fine, I'll play poker with you." Fry responded. "I've got nothing better to do."

"Ooh. Can I play?" Amy asked, overhearing the conversation as she walked over to the two friends.

"Sure." Fry said. "I'll grab you a chair."

* * *

Meanwhile, Leela was busy controlling the ship. Looking out the window, there was nothing to see except the endless expanse of stars with the exception of Saturn, though it was still a bright point in the distance. Ever since launch, she still had a difficult time understanding why Fry would not tell her what was bugging him.

"Why does Fry insist on not telling me what his problem is?" she asked herself. "He's obviously depressed. I just wish I knew what was making him so sad, that way I could make things better for him and me. Wait a minute…"

Leela pondered her thoughts for a moment.

"What is something I did that's causing him to be depressed?" she inquired.

"I don't know, Leela. If I knew I would tell you."

Leela turned and saw Farnsworth sitting to the right of her.

"How long have you been here, professor?" Leela asked.

"Long enough to hear you talk to yourself." he replied. "I'm not an expert when it comes to these things, but I think Fry is depressed because there's something that's missing in his life."

"What could he be missing?" Leela asked. "Do you think it might have nothing to do with him missing his own time period?"

"It's quite possible." the professor replied as he adjusted his thick glasses. "However, it appears that the most likely possibility as to why Fry has been acting this way for a while now is because he's alone…In other words, Fry needs a significant other in his life, a mate if you will. Has he ever tried asking you to go on dates?"

"Yes, many times…" Leela said.

"Did you ever accept his offerings?" Farnsworth asked.

"No…" Leela replied. Then, it suddenly hit her. "Oh, my god! It's so obvious now! What have I done?!"

"I don't know, but it seems as though Fry has deep feelings for you, Leela." Farnsworth said. "It would make him the happiest man in the world if you gave him a chance to find out more about you, and it would probably make you the happiest woman in the world if you got to know him more too."

"Why didn't you say something sooner?!" Leela asked.

"I was hoping you or someone else would figure it out." Farnsworth said. "But no…Once again I am the one who always has to act smart around everyone else…"

The eccentric Farnsworth left his seat and Leela was all by herself once again. As much as she wanted to deny it, the professor was right. Leela found her mind racing with thoughts as she continued steering the ship to its destination.

_What am I going to do? _she thought. _I like Fry a lot as a friend, but I'm not sure we're that compatible together in a deeper relationship. I guess the only way I can find out is if I give him a chance to take me out. But I'm not sure if he'll do that now since I've already rejected him so many times…What if I ask him out? He would have to say 'yes' then, wouldn't he? I don't know… I'm really starting to regret my past decisions. I need to make it up to him. I'm sick of seeing Fry so down all the time!_

* * *

**Fry is still feeling down, even as the ship leaves Earth, and is reluctant to play poker with Bender. Meanwhile, Leela and the professor discuss Fry's issue and come to the conclusion that Fry needs a partner. Leela takes this proposition hard, since she rejected Fry so many times in the past. Now it seems everything that has happened in the past is coming back to bite her. What will happen when the crew reaches Saturn? Will Leela make it up to Fry and treat him to a date? Will Fry ever feel happy again? These will eventually be answered in the coming chapters. I hope you enjoyed this latest installment and I hope to see you in the next chapter :)**

**saturn95**


	4. Saturn Arrival

Saturn Arrival

After about an hour, the Planet Express ship was starting to near the ringed planet. From light speed, Leela slowed the ship down by a significant margin to avoid missing the planet altogether. Upon first glancing at the planet, Leela could tell that was winter in the northern hemisphere of the planet due to the positioning of the broad and complicated shadow of the planet's rings. It was truly a beautiful sight and it only became more breathtaking as the ship continued closing in. One by one, each of the major satellites in orbit around the planet started to come into better focus, especially orange-hued Titan, the largest of Saturn's moons, which was situated far to the right of the planet. Leela grabbed the intercom device and pushed the button to alert everyone else of the coming spectacle.

"Everyone report to the observation deck!" she said through the large speaker. "We're about to reach our destination."

* * *

Fry was already at the observation deck when everyone else suddenly piled into the room. The only one that did not seem to be too impressed with the view was Bender, who seemed to just casually walk into the room with another cigar in his robotic mouth. Meanwhile, Fry and the other humans were gathered at the large window and watched as Saturn grew larger by the second.

"It's more beautiful in person!" Amy said. "I can't believe my father would ever want to make the rings into a golf course!"

"Your father wants to make a golf course here?" Farnsworth asked.

"Yeah, he's been talking about it for as long as I can remember." Amy replied. "Ever since my father made new renovations to Mars Vegas, it has been his dream to create a golf course that spans the entire Solar System. He has yet to get approval from the Jovians, the Neptunians and the Saturnians. Especially the Saturnians."

"I can see why." Hermes said. "Who in the world would be crazy enough to modify the rings of Saturn? The speed of the ring particles would be enough to tear someone apart, if not completely pulverize someone!"

"Not me. I'm just a doctor." Zoidberg said.

"Yeah, a really horrible doctor!" Hermes replied.

"Why must you be so mean?!" Zoidberg complained as Farnsworth settled down the fiasco between the lobster and the bureaucrat. He then changed the subject back to their previous topic.

"While we're still talking about Saturn, there's something I just realized." Farnsworth said. "This year marks the one-thousandth anniversary of the Cassini spacecraft's arrival at Saturn as well as the deployment of the Huygens probe down to the surface of Titan. It was in the research that I was doing for our vacation destination under the history section."

Fry, who was still looking out the window, suddenly turned his head around and entered the conversation.

"Wait…did I just hear that right?" he asked. "Did you say _one-thousandth _anniversary?"

"You heard right, Fry." Farnsworth said. "Back in 1997, the brightest minds of your time launched a spacecraft called Cassini to study Saturn and its moons, which carried a small probe called Huygens which made the first-ever landing on Titan. After two flybys of Venus and one flyby of Earth, the spacecraft made a close encounter with Jupiter late in the year 2000 which gave it the extra boost needed to reach Saturn in 2004. That was back in the days when the sling-shot maneuver was still an efficient method of Solar System travel. Nowadays, that method has become completely obsolete thanks to our current technology, which has the capacity to travel between galaxies in mere hours."

"Man, have we come a long way…" Bender said, pulling out a beer from his front compartment.

"So I missed it by four years." Fry said. "Dang…"

"Wow, I never knew that!" Amy said. "Who would've known that people from the Stupid Ages would have invested time and effort to explore space?!"

Fry glared at Amy for her smart remark.

"Oh, right…I'm sorry, Fry."

"Don't worry about it." Fry said in a melancholy tone. "I get that a lot."

"Did they ever manage to recover the probe?" Hermes asked.

"The probe was never found once humans started colonizing these parts." Farnsworth said. "This is probably due to the weathering action of liquid methane on the surface of Titan, similar to what water does back on Earth. Of course this is just a hypothesis."

"Oh, I can't wait to start having fun!" Amy asked. "What should we do first?"

"They have extreme ice sports events going on Enceladus, as well as ice skating." Farnsworth said. "Of course, the ice on Enceladus would be too cold for regular ice skating and winter sports, which is why every piece of equipment carries powerful built-in heaters. With such low gravity, I'm sure it will make for an ever-lasting rush of adrenaline!"

"That's a fun idea!" Amy said.

"I heard that there was spelunking on Mimas." Hermes said. "We could also visit Herschel Crater. It's supposed to offer one of the most spectacular views of Saturn, especially when the sun starts rising above it."

Suddenly, the intercom inside the ship turned on again and Leela was heard through the speaker.

"I just checked the coordinates for the orbiting hotel and it turns out that it's on the far side of the planet at the moment. It will be a couple of minutes before we get there." she said. "In the meantime, we're going to make a close encounter with rings very shortly."

* * *

While everyone else continued discussing the upcoming activities for the next few days of the vacation, Fry continued gazing out the window at Saturn and its splendor of icy rings. Although the sunlight was only one percent the intensity found back on Earth, there was still a lot to see. The rings of Saturn are composed of billions of fragments, each in their own individual orbit around the planet and range in size from small crystals to lumps the size of houses. As the ship got close, Fry watched as the individual fragments sparkled in the light of the distant Sun like billions of shimmering diamonds. Looking out to the planet itself, Fry was entranced by the muted yellowish cloud bands as well as the presence of small white-colored weird-shaped storms along the equator. It almost reminded him of his trip to Jupiter with Amy a few years back when they had a short-lived, yet fiery romance. Somehow, this triggered a flashback to his childhood and the long-forgotten dreams he had of going to another planet, as well as his deep interest in astronomy. Then, Fry thought of his brother and all of the times he had put him down growing up and how he later named his own son after him. Even a couple of years after digging through his family history, it was still hard to believe that his long-forgotten nephew became one of the first people to step foot on Mars.

Though he was still depressed, Fry was glued to the window and perpetually amazed at what he could see. It is no wonder why people (except Amy's father) would want to leave Saturn alone. It was a beautiful place. The rings alone were enough to deem this planet more beautiful than Earth by a long shot. Looking out the left window, Fry saw two of Saturn's major moons, Enceladus and Dione, glowing like bright polished pearls against the blackness of space. He could also see the moon Tethys through the middle window straight in the distance across from the ring system. As spectacular as the view was, it was still not enough to take Fry's mind off of Leela, and the more he thought about her, the sadder he became. It would only be a matter of time before Fry's feelings would become too powerful for him to contain. He needed to tell Leela how he felt before something potentially catastrophic would ensue, which seemed more imminent for each passing second...

* * *

**The fourth chapter is finally up! The crew has finally reached Saturn and are currently nearing the orbiting hotel. Meanwhile, while everyone else is discussing the vacation, Fry focusses his attention to the scenery outside and struggles to keep his mind off of Leela. His depression appears to be worsening, but is it due to rebound soon? What will happen once the crew touches down inside the hotel? Find out in the next chapter, as well as the following chapters. See you then :)**

**saturn95**


	5. The Ringside Suite Hotel

The Ringside Suite Hotel

As Leela continued slowing the ship down, she could barely start to make out the orbiting Ringside Hotel. Looking more like a giant pinwheel than anything else, it was evident from the many full space garages that the suite was full of life and tourism. Made from a variety of different metals imported from multiple star systems, the circular structure of the Ringside Hotel spanned a mesmerizing ten miles in diameter and was complete with a large interior garden that wrapped itself along the inside of the outer edge, as well as plenty of windows to provide breathtaking views of Saturn. The spinning motion of the hotel was responsible for creating the illusion of gravity from centrifugal force, though it only generated about eighty percent of the force generated from Earth's gravitational pull. To the many people who visit each day, the Ringside Hotel provided an excellent one-hour getaway from the chaos that ensued on planet Earth, as well as a place to just forget about the things that caused unbearable stress in their everyday lives.

Once the ship was close enough, Leela slowed it down even more to align the ship into the vacant space port which the professor had already reserved for their trip. Once the ship touched solid metal, the centrifugal force took over and the crew of Planet Express was already starting to feel its gravitational effects. Leela then powered down the ship's engine and joined the others who were waiting in the ship's common area.

"We're here!" Leela said. "Everyone get your stuff together."

"Here, I'll grab your things, professor." Amy offered.

"Oh, don't be silly, Amy." said the professor. "I think I'll be able to manage this on my own."

"Geez, professor! What kind of contraption did you bring to make your bag so heavy?" Fry said as he tried lifting it out of the luggage compartment.

"My laser gun, of course!" the professor replied. "You never know when you'll get into trouble."

"I'm pretty sure you're not going to be needing it for this vacation." Leela said. "Why don't you just leave it in the ship?"

"Or you could let me carry it for you." Bender said, opening his front compartment.

"Bender, why the hell would I give _you_ my laser gun?!"

"He's got a point." Hermes said. "You are the most deranged member of Planet Express."

"I'm not that reckless!" Bender pleaded.

"You've tried killing me numerous times!" Zoidberg yelled.

"Yeah, but you're Zoidberg. No one cares about you that much anyway."

Leela turned around and glared at everyone involved in the fiasco.

"Quit arguing and grab your stuff!" she said.

"But…"

"Captain's orders!"

Fry watched the whole thing happen and could not help but admire Leela's authoritative commands. Ever since he met Leela in the cryogenic lab, he was able to recognize Leela's power, both in her combat moves, and in her emotions. It was one of the things he found _sexy_ about her. The fact that she was a captain (a very beautiful captain for that matter!) only made Fry want her more. These sudden and random lustful thoughts made his crotch get tighter as he felt his manhood grow inside his pants. _Not now_. Fry told himself as he struggled to control himself. _I don't want to make the same mistake I made with Michelle. I have to tell Leela what's going on in my mind first_. _Maybe she'll understand and decide to give me a chance at love…_

"Are you coming Fry?" Leela asked. "Everyone else is waiting outside the ship."

Fry's mind was just beginning to snap back to reality. _Everyone already grabbed their stuff? How did that happen?_

"Yeah." Fry replied. "I'm right behind you."

Leela gave a slight smile as she led the way out.

_He seems to feeling a little better all of a sudden_. Leela thought to herself. _Should I ask him now or should I wait? Maybe I should wait until we actually get inside the resort_._ I have to bring Fry back to his happy state._

Fry grabbed his bag of luggage and followed Leela out of the ship and onto the metallic floor of the large space garage. The doors leading out into the vacuum had already been sealed and fresh air had since been pumped into the room. Looking around, there were a few other spaceships parked inside the spacious room, but none of them seemed to stand out.

"What took you so long, Fry?" Bender asked.

"I got lost in my thoughts somehow." Fry replied.

"Well let's quit thinking and start walking!" Bender said. "Into the hotel we go!"

* * *

The four friends rode the express elevator up to the 'surface' and emerged onto a metallic walkway leading to a check-in desk at the end. On either side if the walkway were large windows that overlooked the large and beautiful green orchards that extended all the around the large 'pinwheel'. Fry walked over to the left side of the window and observed the splendor of the marvelous engineering feet. There were large trees planted everywhere, as well as plethora of plants and flora that he had not seen since his life back in the 20th century. He could also make out huge patches of agriculture where most of the hotel's food supply was produced. Light posts dotted the entire orchard, which was seen to curve upwards with the contours of the wheel and then makes its way back down the other side. Since the entire ceiling was see-through, Fry was able to see the entire structure of the hotel. The only obvious sign of the hotel's rotation was the ever-changing view of the space beyond it. At that moment, Fry realized that it would not be long before Saturn would become visible through the seemingly invisible ceiling.

_This would make for a very interesting car race_. Fry thought to himself as he tried to comprehend the interior structure of the orbiting hotel. _If only they had my kind of car in the future_.

"This place is incredible!" Amy said, walking over to where Fry stood. "What do you think Fry?"

"How are all of the plants able to survive with not very much sunlight?" he asked.

"Genetic engineering." Leela replied. "What they do is they switch around some of the plant's genes and make it so that their level of tolerance to sunlight is lower than the normal amount they would receive on Earth. In doing so, it saves the hotel a lot of money on its power bill."

"Wow." Fry said. "So if they wanted to, they could make the plants glow?"

"It's possible." Leela said. "They can make animals glow in the dark too, but there really is no incentive to carry out such an operation."

"What about robots?" Bender asked.

"Robots don't have genes." Leela replied. "I thought you knew that."

"I did, I was just messing with ya."

"Ugh…"

"Come on, everyone! The check-in counter is this way!" said the professor.

The others soon followed behind him.

* * *

**Hey everyone! Its been a while since I last updated. I had a very exciting Thanksgiving break and my schoolwork has been keeping busy since then. As a result, this chapter may seem a bit short, and I apologize that. However, there will be more drama in the following chapters! See you then :)**

**saturn95**


	6. The Start of Something Wonderful

The Start of Something Wonderful

* * *

"Can I help you sir?" said the lady at the front desk.

"Yes, me and the members of my crew want to check into our reserved rooms." said the professor as he quickly fixed his glasses. "We're booked under first class."

"Really? You guys don't look like you belong in first class." the lady replied. Farnsworth simply glared in response to her rude comment.

"I'm terribly sorry, sir! It's just that it's been such a long day…"

"Don't say anything else…" the professor said. "Just find our reservations and we'll be on our way. No hard feelings."

"Of course, sir."

Over in the nearby waiting area, Fry was sitting in one of the benches looking around the room while the others continued talking about the coming days. Unlike the dull metallic architecture that he had become accustomed to in the time he had been living in the thirty-first century, he was surprised yet pleased by the sight of walls made of dark reddish-brown wood (or at least material that mimicked wood). They almost reminded him of the inside walls of an Oxford dormitory from his time period. The elegant cone-shaped light fixtures on the walls shined bright cone-shaped beams of light up to the ceiling, giving the room the feel of a high-end corporate meeting room. There were also two small coffee tables inside the waiting room made of the same wooden material with small plants (genetically engineered?) in the middle of each for decoration purposes. The only thing that reminded Fry that he was in the thirty-first century were the large landscape paintings that depicted views of Saturn from one of its small icy moons. Only one of them did not have Saturn in the sky, as it was a painting of the surface of cloud-shrouded Titan at a vantage point set near one of its large lakes of liquid methane. No matter how much he tried to avoid it, it seemed as though everything Fry laid his eyes on reminded him of how much everything had changed since 1999. It only saddened him even more than he already was. The only thing that seemed to keep his spirits up was a surprisingly familiar tune that was quietly playing on the radio.

Meanwhile, Leela was busy studying Fry all by his lonesome as she stood by Bender and Amy while they were having a conversation about the things that were on their mind. There were a lot of things that were on Leela's mind, but they were too personal for her to mention. Most of them were about Fry. _Why is he still acting this way? Should I ask him if he wants to do something later? Is he too depressed to be bothered right now? I can't just watch him get worse with each passing minute. If taking him on a date is what it will take to bring back the bright and cheery Fry that I used to know, then I'll do it. Now's my chance to talk to him._

"Excuse me for just a few minutes." Leela said. "I'm going to go talk to Fry."

"Is he still feeling down?" Amy asked. "This is going way too far. He better cheer up or this vacation is going to suck!"

"Amy go easy on him, it's not his fault that he's feeling the way he is." Leela said.

"Well, whose fault is then?" Bender asked. "Hey, I'm still talking to you!"

Leela just ignored the robot and walked into the sitting area where Fry had his face planted in the palms of his hands as if he were crying. As she approached him, he lifted his head and smiled slightly. However, he was still troubled by the feelings and emotions that were going through his head. Leela kneeled down next to Fry and tried to start a conversation with him as his head sank back into his hands.

"Hey, Fry." Leela said. "Why are you still feeling down? Our vacation is about to start."

"I don't think you'd understand, Leela." Fry said. "It may be Xmas time for you, but for me it's only a time for me to remember and regret ever leaving my own time period. How I wish everything wasn't so different sometimes!"

"I think there's something else that's causing you so much sadness." Leela said. "And I don't think has anything to do with Xmas or you missing your own time period."

"Yeah? And what do you think it is?" Fry asked in a somewhat cynical tone.

Leela took a deep breath and replied.

"Me."

Fry lifted his head and looked at Leela almost dumbfounded and somewhat shocked, his eyes wider than they were before. His started to water as tears developed in his eyes.

"Listen, Fry. You've been such a great friend to me for the past five years and it's obvious that you have feelings for me. It's not that I don't want to be in a relationship with you that causes me to refrain from going out with you. It's just that I don't know if I'm ready to enter into a deeper relationship. The truth is, I've had some very bad experiences with relationships in the past besides the ones I've found myself in during our adventures. I usually don't like to talk about these things, but I remember one time when I was a teenager, I was sexually abused by some pervert that really didn't want anything to do with me besides get in my pants to 'prove' to everyone that I was some kind of slut. That's how most of the guys were in my school. Even to this day, I still have terrible nightmares of the humiliation and the torture I experienced in my childhood."

"That's terrible!" Fry said in a ghastly tone.

"Thankfully, the guy that was abusing me never got that far in his efforts." Leela said. "I ended up kicking his ass."

_Yep! That's the Leela I know and love!_ Fry thought.

"But even though I got my revenge on the guy, I was still broken inside from what happened. Since then, it's been a painful twenty years of recovery."

"So, all this time you've been _afraid_ to be in a relationship because of all the bad experiences and trauma you experienced in your childhood?" he asked.

"Yeah." Leela replied. "Even when I walk down the street and I see a stranger, I get the suspicion that they are up to no good. Don't get me wrong, I'm not paranoid…"

"You're just looking after yourself." Fry said. "I understand, Leela. I've been there before too. I was bullied for much of my childhood and I never made any real close friends. Even my own family seemed to disregard my presence. I pretty much looked after myself growing up in the old city, and many of the decisions I made are ones that I often regret. When I met my now ex-girlfriend Michelle, I thought she was everything that I ever wanted and that she would fill in the hole for everything that was missing from my life. But when she left me for another man, all I wanted to do was kill myself. I thought my life was over and that God was not on my side. That was when I fell into the freezer and then found myself in this magical time period. From the moment I laid my eyes on you in that cryogenic lab, I realized that God _was_ listening to my pleas and I had the feeling that you were the right one. After the last five years we've spent working together, I'm convinced that there's no other person in this entire universe that I'd rather be with than you…" Fry reached out and gave Leela a gentle hug as tears poured from his eyes. "I love you, Leela."

Leela was lost for words. The only thing she could do was comfort Fry as he silently sobbed on her shoulder. She felt her eye water a little as well as her emotions started to kick in. Another moment passed before Leela noticed her heart was beating faster as Fry continued to cling to herlike an abandoned child. Despite her irrational fear of being in another relationship, something was telling Leela that it was time for her to change and forget all of the bad things that happened in the past. Then, she whispered something that Fry would never forget, something he had waited too long to hear from her graceful lips.

"I love you too, Fry."

She had made up her mind. For the first time in a very long time, Leela started to see the light that was Phillip J. Fry. Though neither of them completely realized it yet, their deep and emotional feelings for each other marked the start of something that they never thought would ever be possible…the start of something wonderful.

* * *

**Hey everyone! I know it's been a long time since I last updated, but I haven't forgotten about the story. I've been mainly wrapped up in other stories, among other important things. But now, I proudly present the next installment of this story. **

**While the professor is busy checking in for the reservations for him and his crew, most of the crew members discuss their vacation plans. Fry finds himself all alone in the waiting area until Leela approaches him and tries to make him feel better. But when she confronts Fry about his depression and says that she was one of the main reasons he was sad, they both start to reveal their true colors. Leela reveals her dark history with previous relationships and Fry opens up about his past as well, and they both discover that they have much more in common than they once thought. Could this really be a new beginning for Fry and Leela? What will the other think when they find out what's going on between them? Stay tuned for the next chapter and don't forget to leave a review ;)**

**saturn95**


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